Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles use Balanced Attack to Defeat Hiwassee Tigers

Nov 21, 2017

Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles had six players reach double figures as they used a multi-balanced attack to defeat the visiting Hiwassee College Lady Tigers 92-66 on Tuesday night.

In the opening quarter, Lady Eagle senior spark plug Miranda Wilson tossed in five quick points to propel the home squad to an 11-3 lead, only to watch Tiger guard J’lynn Majors score three consecutive hoops to reduce the deficit to two. The ALC bench then came through as they scored their squads next nine points, led by five from freshman guard Ali May, and the hosts led 23-13 after one period.

In the second stanza, Alice Lloyd opened up on an 18-8 run behind the play of twin-towers Emilie Harrell and Alexandria Clifton to lead 41-21. The girls from Caney Creek would take a 41-25 advantage into the locker-room at intermission.

As the third period began, ALC seemed poised to blow away their athletic competitors, but the Lady Tigers had other plans. Entering the matchup winning three of their last four games, Hiwassee began to push the right buttons and work their way back into contention.

Led by the play of Majors, HC would stun the home crowd by tightening up their defense and going on a 17-6 spurt to slice the score to 47-42 with 3:58 showing. Fortunately, Clifton would then score 7 consecutive points of her own to right the ship, and the Lady Eagles took a 60-48 lead into the final stanza.

The last period was all Alice Lloyd as they used the first five minutes to go on a 15-4 run, and suddenly lead by 23 points (75-52). The hosts would then coast to the impressive victory.

For the winners (5-1), six players reached double figures. Fellow-freshmen Clifton and May each tossed in 14 points on 6-9 and 4-5 shooting. Classmate Haley Hall pumped in 12 points from her guard position, while Miranda Wilson and junior guard Courtney Vasquez each added 11. Junior center Harrell would chip in with 10.

Clifton would lead the club in rebounds with 7 while swatting a game-high 4 blocks, while Miranda Wilson led all players with 7 assists and 5 steals.

On the night, victorious Coach John Mills was pleased with his group’s performance. “I felt that for the most part we executed well and were much improved on our off-the-ball movement. We had won our recent contest not doing this as efficient as I liked, but I felt we had to pick up this area due to Hiwassee’s athleticism.”

The Lady Tigers (4-5) were led by Majors and her game-high 18 points.

Alice Lloyd finished shooting 43.4% (33-76) from the field and 32.1% (9-28) from deep while connecting on 73.9% (17-23) from the foul line. They also added 37 rebounds, 19 assists, and 13 steals.

HC finished shooting 40.9% (27-66) from the floor and 1-13 (7%) from behind the arc. They shot 52.4% (11-21) from the foul line. They also added 52 rebound, 5 assists, and 8 steals

When asked about his early assessment of the squad, the veteran coach replied, “Overall, I feel this team has been working hard and the ladies are learning to play together as one solid unit. They all have different roles from high-school, but are fitting together very well and playing very unselfish. I like the direction we are heading in.”

ALC returns home next Tuesday when they face the Cincinnati Christian Eagles in River States Conference action. Tip-off is set for 5:30 pm.